Myles Garrett makes playful plea to Cowboys; also happy to play for Browns

Myles Garrett was in a “playful mood” two months ago when he made a plea to play for the Dallas Cowboys.

The ESPN video, released Friday, was taken during a relaxed interview session at the College Football Awards show Dec. 8.

Garrett on Saturday said the trade was just something he and his friends had joked about, but it was never meant to be taken seriously.

“I thought it would be funny to put that in the video, because the video wasn’t supposed to be serious,” Garrett told ESPN on Saturday. “(My friends said) ‘Well maybe they can (trade) Romo or trade all of their picks.’ I said, ‘That’d be one hell of a trade.’ But no, [I wasn’t being serious]. I just want to go No. 1.”

Garrett attended the banquet because he was one of three nominees for the Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the defensive player of the year in college football. Defensive lineman Jonathan Allen of Alabama won the award.

If the Bears aren’t comfortable going that high, they can always apply the franchise tag again in 2017 at a cost of approximately $17.5 million. That’s a ton of cap space for one player to eat up, but it might be the only way they can keep him. Jeffery has underwhelmed the past two seasons, but I still argue he’s the best receiver they have by a country mile.

Manuel had a hand in the improvement, too. According to multiple sources, Manuel was involved in playcalling involving nickel situations. Maybe it was an audition. Maybe it was just a matter of getting a different coaching perspective. Whatever the case, there’s confidence in Manuel’s ability to make the defensive calls, even if Quinn, the former defensive coordinator in Seattle, has a heavy hand in it moving forward.